The Passing of Pioneer Roger McFarlane May 18, 2009

It’s with surprise and sadness that I announce the passing of Roger McFarlane.  I first met Roger thru a dear friend. He was tall, charismatic, and confident.  He loved to talk to me about his experience as an HIV/AIDS care giver, organizer and executive.  Roger was there at the beginning of the HIV epidemic and bore witness to the devastating effects of HIV on friends and loved ones.  He, as many will attest to, dared to do something about the HIV epidemic. Roger started an HIV hotline, became  Gay Men’s Health Crisis’s first paid executive director and was executive director for Broadway Cares.  Most recently he was the executive director for the Gill Foundation.

Roger often gave career advise and was a great strategist. Lots will be said about Roger in the upcoming days, weeks and months but I will remember Roger for his strange humor, advise and laugh. We all carry a different piece of the man that had a profound impact on so many lives. God speed to his family and friends.

Yours in Good Health

HIV Microbocides February 16, 2009

The article linked to this post is the quick and dirty on the state of  microbicide research in 2009. There is still alot of work to be done.  It’s a quick read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/health/17glob.html?ref=health

Yours in Good Health

CROI 2009 – Day 2 February 10, 2009

Day 2 Plenary session was presented by Drs. Elizabeth Corbett and Daniel Douek. Dr. Corbett reviewed the interaction between TB and HIV infections and the need for HIV and TB interventions to be combined at a clinical and community level. She recommended home based care for resource poor settings; periodic access to TB diagnostics (smear collections) outside of the clinic; community wide INH (TB) treatment in miners; and strengthening the relationship between HIV and TB.

In Dr. Doucek lecture on Immune effects at HIV infected mucosal surfaces he eloquently reveiwed the relationship between CD4 T cell loss, mucosal barrier integrity, systemic immune activation and HIV/SIV disease progression. HIV infected individuals have leaky guts - increased gut permeability. Dr. Doucek outlined the difference between non-pathogenic and pathogenic primates (humans) response to HIV infection. The major difference is pathogenic primates do not downregulate the acute immune activation and nonpathogenic primates do. The immune activation phase is the most important phase for progression to AIDS. If there is one plenary to review on immune function it would be this lecture, he lays out the information in a simple manner that is understandable to nonimmunologist. The combination of Dr. Siliciano’s lecture about latent reservoirs and  Dr. Douek’s lecture gives us a good understanding of why it has been such a difficult road to a cure for HIV.

Other very note worthy presentations for the day were in the area of HIV shedding in the genital track, aging and metabolic syndromes as risk factors for neurologic disorders, Hepatitis B & C Infections, Prevention and Treatment of Serious Malignancies.

Specific points from oral presentations:

- Delay in therapy in older adults is associated with higher mortality (10 year intervals)

- Delay of treatement in patients below 350 increase risk of AIDS and death was conclused in two observation studies.

- The cure of Hepatitis C seems to require triple therapy and may be accomplished without the use of interferon.

- Hepatitis cure may first require the clearing of infected cells and then the stopping of replication of virus.

- Increasing studies of the cognitive function of older adults (>50) required.

- The microbocide gel PRO2000 was shown to have a 30% level of protection in transmission of HIV infection but a 78% reduction in frequent gel users. It is not effective against other STDs or as a contraceptive (11% pregnancy rate).

Yours In Good Health

Retrovirus Conference – CROI 2009 February 9, 2009

 

Over the next 3 days the world scientist and clinicians will gather in Montreal, CA to present and discuss various HIV/AIDS research.  The Opening Ceremony featured:

- Dr. Siliciano discussion of HIV reservoirs in people living with HIV.  The latent reservoirs remain stable dispite highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).  He believes that patients that are  adherent to HAART is as good as it gets when patients are adherent to medications.  We have to find a way to get to rid the reservoirs of HIV inorder to eradicate the virus.

- Oliver Mtukudzi, the Zimbabwean musician activist performed with his band The Black Spirits. Oliver lost his brother to HIV/AIDS and has used his music to provide prevention messages. The Black Spirits is a blend of soul, chimurenga, South African mbaqanga, Zimbawean pop, and the traditional kateke drumming of the Korekore clan. It was great!!

- The 3rd N’Galy-Mann Lecture was presented by Glenda Gray and James McIntyre from South Africa. The lecture was named after Drs. Bosenge Ngaly and Jonathan Mann, whom both died tragically about 10 years apart in a car and plane accident. The HIV epidemic has devastated South Africa; 5.7 million people are living with HIV and 50% of all hospital admissions are from HIV.  Four thousand teachers die every year due to HIV. One in every 5 nurses are HIV positive.  It has been stated that the country “will run out of people before we run out of money”. There is hope however 45,000 people have received treatment thru PEPFAR funds.

For additional information please see ther following:

http://www.retroconference.org/2009/data/files/webcast.htm

Yours in Good Health

National Black HIV Awareness Day February 7, 2009

 

February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which seeks to increase awareness of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among blacks living in the United States. In 2006, Blacks accounted for approximately 12% of the adolescent and adult U.S. population but 46% of people living with HIV. HIV incidence reports show that Blacks had the highest rates of new infections of any racial/ethnic group. Among black females, high-risk heterosexual contact accounted for 83% of the new infections. Among black males, male-to-male sexual contact accounted for 63% of the new infections.

Please speak to yourself and a loved one about the various high risk behaviors that can lead to transmit HIV.  HIV can be transmitted via sex and blood to blood transfer (cuts, sharing of needles, etc).

For addtional information about HIV, please review the following:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5804a1.htm?s_cid=mm5804a1_e

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5804a2.htm?s_cid=mm5804a2_e

Yours In Good Health

IAS Update II August 6, 2008

 

Here are a couple of websites with varied coverage of the conference.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2008/

http://www.aids2008.org/

http://www.blackaids.org/ShowArticle.aspx?pagename=ShowArticle&articletype=NEWS&articleid=594&pagenumber=1

Yours in Good Health

The Global Impact of HIV/AIDS August 3, 2008

I am in Mexico City for the 17th Annual International AIDS Conference.  Over the next several days about 25,000. scientist, clinicians and advocates will meet to discuss and present information about HIV/AIDS.  I will bring you the most updated research and clinical information on HIV prevention, policy and treatment.  Please take a look at today’s New York Times article. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/health/03aids.html?hp

 

Yours In Good Health

National HIV Testing Day June 27, 2008

Go out and get tested for HIV.  It’s fast and it’s easy. A simple needle prick or a quick mouth swab.                  Stay safe and take care.

Yours in Good Health

 

President Bush and Global Health February 20, 2008

While Americans are focused (rightfully so) on the Presidential Primaries, President Bush is touring Africa doing what he does well, touching hands. While on his 5 country tour of Africa President Bush will make available $350 million to provide treatment for tropical diseases, such as river blindness, hookworm and schistosomiasis, that have often been ignored by major funding sources.  He has noted that the American government has spent nearly $20 billion over the past five years fighting diseases such as AIDS and Malaria.

National Black HIV Awareness Day February 7, 2008

Today is National Black AIDS Awareness Day and it seems like it is being commemorated in no more than a whisper.  In a time where more African American men and women are becoming infected with HIV than ever, everyone in America should have awaken to HIV prevention messages in African Americans.   

This week I attended the Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston.  CROI is a gathering of the worlds leading HIV scientist and clinicians to present, discuss, and critique studies in the field of HIV (a retrovirus) with the ultimate goal of translating laboratory and clinical research into progress against the AIDS epidemic. The main focus of CROI 2008 was on basic science, prevention, and epidemiology.    

There are greater than 1 million Americans living with HIV and 49% of people living with HIV are African Americans.  The HIV epidemic has disproportional affected African American women, specifically in the South and Northeastern US.   Heterosexual contact is the main transmission risk among Black women.  Young Black and Hispanic men (ages 18-24) having sex with men are increasingly being infected with HIV and Syphilis.  The HIV prevalence rates for Blacks in the United States compare with several developing countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Haiti.  Several studies have revealed that driving forces in the transmission of HIV in the African American community are sexual transmitted diseases (Herpes Simplex-2), sexual networks, and social context such as poverty, incarceration, etc.  Black men born today are 29% chance of spending time in jail or prison in his lifetime; 1 in 8 black men ages 25 – 29 are currently in jail. 

What does this say to me: The US efforts to stem the tide of HIV transmission in the African American community has clearly failed.  The US public health efforts have focused on individual interventions.  In this Presidential Primary season where the buzz word is change, I strongly advocate that we change the direction of our public health approach to HIV prevention as well.  I believe that an integrated approach is needed to affect real change which means working with social and community networks.  More importantly it means looking at the underlying issues that lead to HIV transmission which really means looking at ourselves as a country.  If you have been tested practice safe sex; if you haven’t been tested GET TESTED; if you are HIV positive get into the care of an experienced HIV provider. 

For additional information click on link below: http://www.hhs.gov/aidsawarenessdays/factsheets/docs/05-1221afams.pdf

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”            - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.